Marbled Elephant

1630–50

Not on view

This work depicts a trotting elephant with two riders, and a third figure running ahead of the creature. The body of the elephant and the human figures have been made in the technique of marbling (abri). Marbled paintings are well known from the Deccan region in the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This technique involved manipulating floating pigments on the surface of a liquid bath to form designs, which were then transferred to a sheet of paper by carefully laying it on top. Deccani artists skillfully blocked off areas of the scene to create parts that are marbled (in this case, the bodies of the animal and figures) before finishing the work with fine black ink shading.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Exhibition History

References

Title: Marbled Elephant
Date: 1630–50
Geography: Country of Origin India
Medium: Marbling with gold and silver on paper
Dimensions: Image: 5 in. × 8 1/2 in. (12.7 × 21.6 cm)
Frame: 8 5/8 × 12 × 5/8 in. (21.9 × 30.5 × 1.6 cm)
Classification: Codices
Credit Line: Howard Hodgkin Collection, Purchase, Florence and Herbert Irving Acquisitions, Harris Brisbane Dick, and 2020 Benefit Funds; Howard S. and Nancy Marks, Lila Acheson Wallace, and Friends of Islamic Art Gifts; Louis V. Bell, Harris Brisbane Dick, Fletcher, and Rogers Funds and Joseph Pulitzer Bequest; and funds from various donors, 2022
Object Number: 2022.201
Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

"Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album, Chitarman Indian, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper — "Shah Jahan on a Terrace, Holding a Pendant Set With His Portrait", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album
Chitarman
recto: dated 1627–28; verso: ca. 1530–50

Footed Bowl and Plate, Glass, opalescent white; blown, bowl with applied stem and blown applied foot, fired silver and gold decoration — Footed Bowl and Plate
first half 18th century

Finial in the Form of a Parrot, Brass — Finial in the Form of a Parrot
17th–18th century

Dagger with Hilt in the Form of a Blue Bull (Nilgai), Hilt: Nephrite<br/>Blade: Watered steel — Dagger with Hilt in the Form of a Blue Bull (Nilgai)
ca. 1640

Base for a Water Pipe (Huqqa) with Irises, Zinc alloy; cast, engraved, inlaid with brass (bidri ware) — Base for a Water Pipe (Huqqa) with Irises
late 17th century

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.